I read 1 Nephi 5 this week and was struck by the story of Lehi searching the brass plates and what he found in them. Hugh Nibley, in his lectures on the Book of Mormon, said that Lehi didn’t have the genealogy of his fathers because the records on the brass plates were rare and secret. The law was read publicly once a year by the scribes and pharisees, and that was all the access the people had to what we now call the Old Testament. So, when Lehi and his family fled from Jerusalem, the Lord commanded Lehi to send...

Do you need a fun activity to help the youth in your ward get interested in family history? How about a Family Home Evening or Sunday activity for the whole family? Try MISSION POSSIBLE and see that it is possible to do family history! I created the MISSION POSSIBLE youth activity in response to Elder Anderson's Find, Take, Teach Challenge. Purpose We wanted to give the youth in our ward an opportunity to teach their families about family history. After discussing this in our family history committee, we decided to train the youth with FamilySearch.org and some of the great apps associated with...

For Christmas last year, I hosted a craft night for my friends. We made these easy, quick photo pendants! I first saw these at a family reunion, where some of the adult granddaughters had created them for the girl cousins. I thought they were so pretty and so symbolic of keeping memories of family close to our heart. These photo pendants make unique, affordable gifts. For the girls in my husband's family, I made six of the same pendant with a photo of their grandmother. I made one for each of my grandmas with pictures of their mothers. Later, my ward asked me to...

Our ward family history committee, consisting of youth and adult consultants, planned this ward activity for all ages. Held on a Thursday evening it took the place of the combined activity for the young men and young women that week. Each organization had an assignment and each youth group ran one of the activities. One of our consultants did a fabulous job transforming the cultural hall into an old time country fair. Using the color theme of red, white, blue, and yellow, she displayed homemade quilts and added balloons and banners for a festive look. Table centerpieces consisted of bags...

Have you created your whole family tree in Ancestry.com or another system and now you want to try using FamilySearch.org? How do you move your tree over to FamilySearch.org? There are two ways - one without a GEDCOM file and one with. First, you should know that FamilySearch Family Tree is a collaborative tree. We all share ancestors, so when you add an ancestor, chances are that someone else has already added that person. That's why FamilySearch doesn't allow you to upload a GEDCOM without first comparing each individual to the people already in the tree. There are many duplicates that still...

Let's make a simple picture pedigree chart! It's perfect for printing at home, displaying on the wall, sharing with your kids, or impressing your cousins at the next family reunion. Read about how I printed this 36" x 24" chart for my family reunion here. Ready to get started? Here are the steps: 1. Create a folder on your computer with copies of the pictures you want to use. Crop your pictures to be tall rectangles, like the portraits in the picture pedigree. 2. Sign up for our email list. After you confirm your email address, we will send you the template for...

One of the best features on Family Tree is the capability to create a source for your ancestor. Although FamilySearch has billions of records in their database, you are still going to find records on other websites, in books, and in your paper files that you will want to add to the record of your ancestor. How do you create a source for the death certificate you just received in the mail? What about the military pension record you found on a state archive website? Luckily for us, FamilySearch has a simple process and with a few tricks you can...

Picture Pedigree At our family reunion this summer, we had a "family tree gathering" on Monday night. Each family selected a story about one of our ancestors and created a skit about it. We all wore costumes, brought props, and performed the skits. In between each skit, I pointed out on the picture pedigree who the story was about. It was a memorable night! My picture pedigree chart made using PowerPoint This picture pedigree was inspired by the 5 generation family photo chart on TreeSeek.com. It's FamilySearch.org certified, so I just logged in with my username and password and TreeSeek downloaded my family...

This is my new goal: Make a family mission statement, then attach several anecdotes from our family's past that exemplify the values and principles outlined in our mission (honesty, hard work, etc). This is a work in progress but I will update the blog as we go along. Why do I want to do this? Well, I learned a couple years ago that sharing family stories with our children can be more than just an interesting pastime, when I read the article "The Stories that Bind Us." Bruce Feiler detailed some of the findings of psychologists Marshall Duke and Robyn Fivush of Emory University about children...

Place names change over time as the boundaries and jurisdictions are modified. Genealogists should use the place name as it existed at the time of the event. For example, the location of a family living in the same house in Preston for 40 years could be recorded at different times as: Preston, Oneida, Idaho Territory, United States (1880) Preston, Oneida, Idaho, United States (1900) Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States (1920) Idaho county map, 1900 Idaho county map, 1920 Recording Historical Places in Family Tree In FamilySearch.org FamilyTree, a list of standardized places are...

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Diana Elder, AG®, and Nicole Dyer

We are mother & daughter professional genealogists sharing ideas for finding ancestors and keeping them close to the heart. Check out our ‘how to’ articles on the blog, then check out our services page for professional research assistance. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Read more about us here. Thanks for visiting!